Ohio State's animal treatment to be investigated

Please contact
the Director of the USDA’s Eastern Regional Office to insist that they
take immediate action against Ohio State University for ten violations
of the Animal Welfare Act including: use of improper euthanasia agents,
inadequate veterinary care, failure to disclose animals used in
experimentation, failure to seek alternatives for painful procedures,
failure to provide environmental enhancement for primates, improper
enclosures, etc.

Animal welfare group Stop Animal Exploitation Now has asked the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to re-examine the 16 animal research
violations for which Ohio State was cited last year to ensure
corrections took place.

Michael Budkie, the executive director of SAEN, said the group routinely
examines reports for laboratories in the U.S. which the USDA makes
available online. OSU’s large number of citations immediately stood out
to the group as a problem, causing SAEN to file a complaint to the USDA
last week.

“We’re very concerned any time we see that many animal welfare
violations because that starts to demonstrate a serious pattern of
breaking the law,” Budkie said. “When you see that many violations, you
are looking at a laboratory that is not following the regulations,
they’re not providing adequately for the animals and they’re not meeting
even the minimal standards.”

The 10 violations cited in July, according to the USDA inspection
report, included use of expired drugs on canines, inadequate veterinary
care resulting in hair loss in half the grass rats, and hamsters being
housed at 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit, below the minimum of 60 degrees.

Other violations in the July inspection involved housing all of the
lab’s 12 macaques, a species of monkey, separately when pair or group
housing is required for primates that exist in social groups in nature.

Six violations were reported in May, including an issue of unsanitary
hamster procedure rooms and various plywood doors between animal stalls
being significantly chewed, according to the May inspection report.

Jeff Grabmeier, senior director of Research and Innovation
Communications at OSU, said the university constantly ensures that its
researchers are using the most humane methods in their work with the
130,000 animals under the university’s care.

“We take seriously our obligation to meet and exceed all federal
regulations involving the use of laboratory animals and we remain
committed to continually looking for ways to improve the care of the
animals housed at the university,” Grabmeier said in statement.

Budkie said the regulations in the Animal Welfare Act that set the
standards for the care of research animals were being overlooked. The
act was signed into law in 1966 and, according to the USDA website, “is
the only federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment
of animals in research, exhibition, transport and by dealers.”

Budkie said the act was designed to protect animals from basic
violations such as those in question.

“If it’s not functioning in that way, then these animals are in
significant jeopardy because if they’re getting away with these things
that the USDA found, what else is going on that the USDA didn’t happen
to uncover?” Budkie said.

Jan Weisenberger, senior associate vice president for research, said in
an email to OSU researchers that they inspect all animal research
facilities and assured that time is also spent conducting continuous
training for them.

“We especially value the efforts of all of our researchers who work with
animals in helping to ensure the best and most humane care,”
Weisenberger said in the email. “We will continue to work with all of
you to achieve this goal. The discoveries that you make every day are
helping to conquer disease and promote both human and animal health.”

None of the 16 citations from the USDA were considered to be a direct
threat to animal safety or welfare, Grabmeier said.

He also said the violations in the inspection were corrected by their
due dates, and the two that remained would also be fixed by the dates
the USDA requested.

Budkie said that while USDA has not yet begun further investigation, it
is required to act on any complaints it receives.

OSU could potentially be fined $10,000 per violation, Budkie said, and
SAEN hopes it will be substantial enough to have an impact.

“That kind of a fine is really, in our opinion, necessary to get the
attention of a facility like Ohio State because they make so much
money,” Budkie said. “I’m sure it can be tens of thousands of dollars in
animal experimentation that if the fine is not significant, then they
have no reason to be concerned.”